


What If It Rains

by sonus



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Magic, Magical Realism, Slice of Life, Strangers to Lovers, donghyuck and flowers, implied depression, it's nothing heavy tho, the 00 liners have magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21871246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonus/pseuds/sonus
Summary: 'Magical' is the only word that Chenle can think of when he sees Donghyuck for the first time.It turns out he isn't exactlywrong.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54
Collections: DreamXmas 2019





	What If It Rains

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eab5c5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eab5c5/gifts).



> Hello there!!
> 
> Ahhh to be honest secret santa was such a JOURNEY i don't even know what to say.
> 
> First of all i wanna thank my team, the 9900 liners you guys are truly the best and even tho ITS YOUR FAULT we even joined i love you guys<33
> 
> To my receiver<3: heyyy Jewel!!! I know you are not my orginal prompter but i hope you will uhh enjoy it anyway? i kind of struggled with this one A LOT and i feel like you can tell heh :D Also idk what kind of coincidence but i know the person who wrote for you they are a good friend of mine HOW EVEN! anywayyyy enjoy and happy winter season ig!!
> 
> (also i'll come back and edit it istg i just had a LOT of stuff happening at uni so ;u; sorry for any mistakes)

When it comes to Chenle there's something he knows that most people don't. No, he isn't a vampire and no, he doesn't know if aliens exist. Though if you asked him, he would say they do.

But he knows a secret. Or is it really a secret if it isn't hidden from view? Chenle calls it one anyway.

Subtle magic that Chenle is aware exists is there, more real than anything else and yet no one notices it.

Donghyuck says it's because it's blunt and boring, something people don't care about enough to expose.

Chenle disagrees.

To him, it's magical, beautiful in its simplicity.

Especially Donghyuck's kind of magic.

It all doesn’t really make sense when told like this so let’s go back to where it all started and go from there.

Chenle is, by any means, a normal high school student. He has a bunch of friends, even a best friend. His grades are fine. He doesn’t date yet.

His life is as average as one’s life can get but he doesn’t really mind.

So how does it shift around to him being involved with magic?

It starts with Jisung, his best friend, or maybe not.

That day Chenle is late to school which normally wouldn’t bother him that much but that day he has an important exam that he can’t afford to fail and so he panics and takes Jisung’s advice.

Which usually means trouble and it’s no different this time.

Jisung recommends him a shortcut that in the younger's words will get him to school instantly.

"You aren't a magician Jisung," Chenle answers his best friend but it's lost over Jisung's laugh and it's not like he has a better plan so he tries it anyway.

The short cut looks fine for the most part of Chenle's journey. It leads him through thin alleyways next to some gardens but there's no time for him to ponder on what he is passing by.

Until he is forced to stop.

It happens almost next to the school building, Chenle can see the familiar figures of skyscrapers which look quite odd when added as a background to all the flowers and greens surrounding him.

It's a dead end, a short wooden fence of a small house and a garden. There's absolutely no way around it as far as Chenle can see.

That's how it happens.

He is about to give up on his exam and his mind hopefully supplies him with imagines of him failing school and then ending up living under a bridge when he spots something.

There, in the distance but still in the same garden that's separating him from education, Chenle spots a boy.

From that far it's hard to tell anything about him other than his bright red hair. Which looks kind of familiar but Chenle's mind is all over the place and he can connect that vibrant color to any particular memory.

Maybe the boy would let him pass through.

"Hey!" he yells and even though there is no reaction at first and Chenle is about to just give up and turn around to go mop somewhere over his failed exam, the boy turns around with a smirk. Which is of course not visible to the younger from that distance. But it still happens.

"What do you want?" he asks as he gets up from his knees and gets closer to the fence to get a better look at the stranger.

Chenle finally recognises the boy. The red hair that he has seen in the corridors so many times in passing.

"I can help you get to school faster," the older boy says with a smirk.

Lee Donghyuck is the name. One of their school's most popular students, a year above Chenle.

The younger boy nods in a trance.

It doesn't even register to him that he never asked for Donghyuck's help.

The boy leads him through his beautiful garden and there is something wrong about the flower there but Chenle doesn't really dwell on it.

Donghyuck smiles at him and waves him away when Chenle is once again over the fence from him.

The school is straight ahead and he isn't late yet.

Donghyuck has glowing pollen all over his palms.

🌿🌿🌿

Chenle would have never guessed that that random encounter with Donghyuck would get him in such a mess.

It's not even a week later when one of the older's friends seeks him out between classes.

Renjun is small but fierce, eyes stone hard and lips in a thin line when he approaches him in a corridor.

At first Chenle's instinct tells him to run as soon as he realizes that the older is coming for him.

Renjun's reputation around the school is quite mysterious too. No one really hangs out with him apart from, well, Donghyuck, Jaemin, and Jeno.

It finally clicks in Chenle's brain and he straightens his back just before Renjun arrives before him. Their height difference is visible but Renjun just stares, not scared at all.

"You know Donghyuck don't you?" he asks without any greetings and Chenle raises his eyebrows at him.

"What is this about?"

Renjun crosses his arms over his chest.

"Does this matter?"

Chenle stares at the younger and they stay like this until Renjun finally sighs in resignation.

"He told us about an encounter with you. I don't know why but at this point we are willing to try anything at this point," the older says and something in his tone makes Chenle pause and think for a second.

"What's the problem?" he asks as masses of people pass by them, too busy to care about this random encounter.

Secrets are meant to be told in private under the promises of secrecy. Or at least that's how Chenle has always viewed them.

But Renjun shares this secret in broad daylight in the middle of a busy high school building where anyone could hear them if they stopped for a moment and listened.

"It's his magic."

In a way, it all started when Chenle bumped into Donghyuck that one day. But a story is nothing without continuation and it's this moment that keeps the engine running.

Donghyuck is a magical boy whose magic isn’t working as it supposed to do. And it seems that Renjun is one as well.

Chenle follows the older without asking any more questions.

🌿🌿🌿

As it turns out magic is nothing really, well, magical by standards. There are no sparks or spells or colorful robes to wear.

It's the way Renjun annoys Jaemin to no end while sitting on their old yellow sofa to get the younger to do his homework.

By standards that make no sense but the first thing Chenle learns about magic is that it's controlled by certain emotions.

Each person that has the ability to perform magical acts has a specific emotion that they need to feel to actually use their abilities. Which, of course, also vary.

Jaemin's magic is activated when the boy is frustrated so Renjun flirts endlessly with his boyfriend and the pink-haired senior blushes lightly.

"C'mon help me with my homework, Nana," he teases and the younger of the pair rolls his eyes.

Jaemin's magic allows him to be extremely good at math.

"This is what people mean when they say magic is useless," Donghyuck comments while they watch the scene that plays out before them. “Those two are always at each other’s throats. Hard to believe they are dating huh?”

Chenle opens his mouth to answer but Donghyuck’s smile and Jaemin’s deep blush stops him.

Magic is also the way Jaemin picks up little fights with Renjun in the winter to keep himself warm. This information comes from Donghyuck but Chenle has no reason to not believe him. So he does.

Lastly, magic is also in the way the rain hits the windows as it wanted to get inside despite the cloudless sky outside when Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun finally fill him in on what’s happening with Donghyuck.

“Don’t mind the rain,” Renjun casts a glance at the world outside. “Jeno’s power is activated by sadness.”

Chenle turns to the said boy and stares. Jeno shifts uncomfortably under his stare.

“Pretty inconvenient huh?” Jaemin laughs lightly. “Imagine just soaking on a sunny day because you accidentally bring up a sad memory.”

Jaemin glances at his best friend pointedly and Jeno scratches his neck with a blush.

“Yeah well, that happened,” Renjun saves Jeno from the awkward conversation and the younger nods at him with a smile.

Chenle observes it all with furrowed eyebrows. He can’t see where the conversation is going, how is it connected to Donghyuck and most importantly, why is _he_ there.

There’s nothing magical about Chenle. His sadness doesn’t bring rain, his anger doesn’t heat up the air and his embarrassment doesn’t solve math problems.

“Donghyuck’s powers are activated by happiness. It seems like he has been struggling with it lately,” Renjun’s tone turns serious and he looks at Chenle with unreadable eyes. “The flowers are slowly dying.”

“What happens if his flowers die?” Chenle asks and the pair exchanges a look.

“We aren’t sure,” Renjun says, voice unsure and this alone is enough to make Chenle worried.

“It’s not like this kind of thing has been a problem before,” Jaemin continues slowly. “Our magic...It’s a different kind of thing. For Donghyuck, even his flowers are magical. We don’t know how it would affect him.”

“If at all,” Renjun adds in a much more calm voice.

Chenle nods. It’s not like they want to take any chances anyway.

“I guess you saw me as someone who can help him get better,” he looks around and most of the older boys look away from him, Renjun’s hands forming fists in his lap. Chenle guesses they are frustrated because they aren’t able to do anything to help their friend. He has no idea why they think he might do the trick. “I’ll try my best.”

He is determined to see Donghyuck’s flowers bloom in their full glory again.

🌿🌿🌿

It turns out his best isn’t enough. Or rather than not being enough it’s not what Donghyuck needs despite Renjun’s beliefs.

Chenle spends so much time with the older he gets used to the way his heart beats at a different speed each time they are together.

He gets used to the flowers. He gets used to Donghyuck’s sparkly eyes which doesn’t mean that he isn’t fascinated by them still.

That specific day it looks like it’s not only Donghyuck who is having a rough time. Chenle observes the surroundings and remembers how Renjun and Jaemin told him it’s not only Donghyuck’s flowers that’s magical and different.

“What if it rains?” Chenle asks as the little flowers bloom along his arms, the yellow petals slowly covering up space where his veins run under the tender skin.

“Rain is just water Lele,” Donghyuck laughs and Chenle decides not to comment on how fragile the flowers feel under his touch.

The sky is clean, not a single cloud in sight and Donghyuck sighs as the first drop of water hits the ground.

They are shining and blue, probably one of the most beautiful things Chenle has ever seen.

"For something so beautiful they have such a sad meaning," the older takes out his phone and sends a quick text to Jeno. "Last time it happened was because a cat ran off when Jeno wasn't done petting it yet."

Chenle frowns at the way Donghyuck tries to make it into a joke of some sorts with his light tone and gestures. He has been doing that quite a lot over the past few weeks,  
_How would it affect him_ , Chenle wonders again as he looks around the garden. Donghyuck flowers seem like the boy himself. Some moments their petals loose color, the flowers at the edge of dying, but then Donghyuck’s bright gaze turns to them and they come back to life as if nothing happened.

Chenle isn’t fooled though. No one truly is.

The plants are almost one with the older and whatever it is that Donghyuck is going through it’s slowly killing them.

“Hyung,” he says carefully, not wanting to scare the older off. Donghyuck turns his head slightly to the side so that he can steal a glance at his younger companion. His gaze is wary and Chenle _knows_ the older can feel something is wrong. "Something is not right."

Donghyuck laughs shortly and shakes his head but Chenle gestures to the flowers around them. They aren't as lively as the pictures that Renjun and Jaemin had shown him. Truth to be told, Chenle have never seen them as colorful and beautiful as in those pictures.

There is something mesmerizing about the way the colors look so wrong and so right at the same time, a mixture of natural and unnatural ones subtle enough that an eye not paying enough attention wouldn't notice.

Well, to Chenle Donghyuck is still magical, still breathtaking, but as Jeno laughs at him when he points that out, he starts to think there might be a completely different reason for that.

"The other hyungs were right when they said there is something going on," he pushes and Donghyuck grimaces.

"So they send you to get information from me?" he asks bitterly and a single petal of a flower the closest to him turns black.

Chenle stares at it with wide eyes. This is something new, no one warned him that Donghyuck can do _that_.

"Not really," he answers, tearing his eyes from the dead flower with force. "They only told me something was wrong with you that first day when we met."

Donghyuck stays quiet and so the younger takes it as permission to continue.

"They thought I might be able to help somehow," he lets out quietly. Chenle thinks back to Renjun's theory that his presence helped Donghyuck somehow but now, as he looks at the plants around them he feels useless. “But I don’t think it’s working on its own. Hyung—”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Donghyuck brushes it off with a fling of his wrist and a smirk but Chenle doesn’t buy it.

‘ _Donghyuck’s powers are activated by happiness. It seems like he has been struggling with it lately._ ’

Renjun’s words come back to Chenle full force as he stares at the boy before him.

“Whatever it is you don’t have to tell me hyung,” his voice is quiet but firm and there is a spark in Donghyuck’s eyes that disappears just as fast at it appears. “But I’m here for you.”

And as Donghyuck smiles and looks down at the flowers Chenle thanks whatever gods are listening for Jisung and his strange shortcuts.

🌿🌿🌿

“You know what? You were right,” Donghyuck picks up that conversation just where they left off the last time and magically Chenle knows just what he is referring to. Well, not magically but it’s close enough. “There is something but—”

Chenle stills next to the fence where he is looking over the roses, their red petals dulled both from the magic rain that was brought to them by Jeno watching some dramas and also Donghyuck’s vulnerability.

The older looks at him with a smile but it’s not bright. It’s bitter and maybe a little bit defeated which Chenle does not like. Who would?

“You don’t have to tell me about it,” he says and he sees Donghyuck’s frame tense. “What’s important to me is you getter better hyung, not knowing what’s up.”

“You know I’m already a little bit better now, right?” Donghyuck laughs at his confused expression. “I know that Renjun and Jaemin have’t shared this with you because they didn’t want to expose me but I’ve gotten better since you started visiting.”

Normally Chenle’s brain absorbed and analyzed informacion pretty quickly but he is stuck this time. He just _looks_ at Donghyuck, unsure what to say.

“Don’t look at me like _that_ ,” the older laughs. “Why do you think I feel better with you around?”

“Because I’m your friend?” Chenle asks carefully. He can feel his heart speeding up as Donghyuck’s smile grows bigger.

“Chenle-ah,” he starts and it sounds bright so the younger smiles too. “You help me make the flowers bloom again.”

Chenle feels his breath hitch.

“Wanna go out sometime?”

🌿🌿🌿

It takes a few months but things get better. Fall comes and goes and so does winter. Spring means a lot of different things and Chenle watches flowers bloom with excitement.

Donghyuck starts therapy. It’s not an easy or particularly fun thing but as the time goes by it’s clear that it does it’s job. The walls that Donghyuck has build around himself slowly come crashing down and Chenle observes it closely, ready to pick up the pieces if something goes wrong.

But at the end of the day, it turns out fine.

The flowers in Donghyuck’s garden still aren’t as bright or as lively as the ones Chenle saw on the pictures but when Renjun and Jaemin come around they smile at the plants hopefully.

Maybe Chenle is a little bit magical after all. His powers might not be activated by anger, sadness or whatever but when Donghyuck smiles at him and another flower blooms it’s hard not to laugh.

Chenle thinks about himself as a catalyst for his boyfriend’s power.

Of course, he isn’t all that Donghyuck needs to regain his strength but for now, it’s fine.

It’s a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand thats it!!
> 
> i know it's kind of a short one but i was trying to vibe with that magical feeling the orginal prompter wanted so sbhjsh
> 
> anyway leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed, then always make my day<33


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